The Charleston, or some guidelines for passing

Whoa, that was fast!
A comment sometimes heard when you open your hand and immediately pick three tiles and put them out for the person on your right.

Sometimes you see the strength in a hand even as you're putting your tiles up on your rack!

5BAM, W, and 7DOT obviously go...leaving a 2, 4 6,8 hand. That makes for some fast passing.

And then there are the times you open with nothing that goes with anything...no pairs, no tiles in the same 'family'....and passing is more difficult. Then I look at high numbers or low numbers. Or just pass something, anything, to see what I pick up first. Maybe that will give me direction!
Here I guess I would start be passing the W, 5BAM, and 7DOT....or maybe the 1DOT. Your choice.

Some general rules about passing:

• Try not to pass flowers. Even if you don't need them. You might need them later as a different hand evolves....or discard them early in the game if you really don't want them. Too many hands need flowers and getting one in a pass can make a player very happy. She might even rethink the hand she's looking at.
• Try not to pass pairs. If you have a pair you don't need, split them and pass them separately.
• A pass that consists of 3 tiles from the same section on the card. For example: a 2BAM, 4BAM and 8BAM or a 1CRAK, 4CRAK, 5CRAK.
• Don't pass three winds together. That can also make the receiver rethink her hand. I also try not to pass a S and N together or a E and W together. There are hands on the 2011 card that use only S and N or E and W.

All of the above rules are sometimes broken, of course.